US stock futures point higher ahead of jobs data

[June 04, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Stock futures are indicating a higher opening for the U.S. markets Thursday as investors await sales reports from retailers and data on the labor market.

The modest increase in futures comes as European markets move higher after two days of losses ahead of key statements from central banks. The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate steady on Thursday and European Central Bank was expected expected to do the same.

Asian markets declined as investors took profits made the day before when markets in other countries retreated.

In the U.S., investors will be keenly focused on a number of areas that have been cause for concern as of late: consumer spending, unemployment, rising oil and commodity prices and climbing interest rates.

Investors fear that the "green shoots" of economic growth that were the impetus for the market's spring rally have yet to really bloom, which could indicate a slower, less robust recovery than originally hoped.

Ahead of the market's open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 31, or 0.4 percent, to 8,700. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 4, or 0.4 percent, to 935.70, while Nasdaq 100 index futures added 3.50, or 0.2 percent, to 1,481.

Government data is expected to show that initial claims for jobless benefits dropped slightly last week, while continuing claims set another record. This would indicate that layoffs are slowing, but that unemployed workers are finding it difficult to get new jobs.

The report comes a day ahead of the crucial tally of monthly job losses. Economists expect that report will show employers cut a net total of 520,000 jobs last month on top of the 5.7 million jobs that have been lost since the beginning of the recession in December 2007.

Good news for the labor market came from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which said it plans to hire about 22,000 people as it opens 150 new or expanded stores in the U.S. this year.

On Wednesday, investors broke a four-day streak of gains and sold stocks on worse-than-expected reports on factory orders and the services sector. The S&P 500 index dipped 1.4 percent, while both the Dow and the Nasdaq composite fell less than 1 percent.

The market's spring rally was driven in large part by economic data that beat analysts' and investors' expectations. But those expectations were already very low. Now that the economy has shown small signs of improvement, the market's expectations are rising and investors are now anxious for more clear indications of growth.

Bond prices fell early Thursday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.58 percent from 3.54 percent. Last week, the 10-year yield surged to a six-month high of 3.75 percent.

The dollar retreated against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude rose $1.02 to $67.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.8 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.4 percent. In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.0 percent, and France's CAC-40 gained 0.7 percent.

[Associated Press; By SARA LEPRO]

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